Keith Emerson

One of progressive rock's most celebrated keyboardists, Keith Emerson was born in Todmorden (West Yorkshire) on November 2, 1944, and died in Santa Monica (California, USA) on March 11, 2016. He learned to play the piano and studied classical music, before discovering the Hammond organ and jazz. In 1963, he formed the Keith Emerson Trio, which recorded nine songs, and joined various rock bands including John Brown's Bodies, Gary Farr & the T-Bones and The V.I.P.'s, which included future members of Spooky Tooth, Humble Pie and Mott the Hoople. After accompanying singer P.P. Arnold, Emerson reunites with ex-T-Bones Lee Jackson, with whom he forms The Nice alongside David O'List. A pioneer of rock, jazz and classical fusion, The Nice recorded five successful albums between 1968 and 1970. He then teamed up with former King Crimson member Greg Lake and ex-Atomic Rooster Carl Palmer to form one of progressive rock's leading bands, Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP), responsible for such classics as the namesake debut in 1970, followed by Tarkus (1971), Pictures at an Exhibition inspired by Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition (1972) and Brain Salad Surgery (1973). After splitting up in 1979, Emerson composed several film scores, including Inferno (1980), Nighthawks (1981), Best Revenge (1982) and Murderock (1983), as well as the solo album Honky (1981). In 1985, ELP was reborn under the short-lived name Emerson, Lake & Powell with Cozy Powell, who recorded a studio album released in 1986, as did the following group 3, with Robert Berry and Carl Palmer, for ...To the Power of Three (1988). In 1992, the original ELP line-up reunited for the albums Black Moon (1992) and In the Hot Seat (1994), while The Nice returned in the 2000s. Emerson also collaborates with guitarist Marc Bonilla in Emerson, Hughes & Bonilla with Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple) and a new Keith Emerson Band, which records Three Fates Project with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester (2012). A musician suffering from anxiety and chronic depression, Keith Emerson took his own life on March 11, 2016, shooting himself in the head at the age of 71.

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